Zhuangzi Inner Chapters Commentary (莊子內篇注)

Zhuangzi Inner Chapters, Commentary Volume 3 — Su Jiu

Commentary by Hanshan Deqing, the Recluse of Mount Lu

**The Preserver of Life**

This passage teaches how to nurture one's nature and preserve life, for nature is the master of life. It means that people, in their pursuit of physical comforts and bodily needs, chase endlessly after fame, wealth, and status—thinking these are the strategies for nurturing life. Yet in doing so, they harm their true nature and waste their vitality, toiling their whole lives without knowing when to stop. This is what is meant by losing one's true self, colliding and grinding against external things, their bodies racing like galloping horses without knowing how to return home. Is this not the deepest sorrow?

Therefore, the teaching is this: be at peace with the times and accept your circumstances. Do not greedily seek to nourish the body. Instead, use purity and detachment from desires to nurture your true nature. This reveals the true path of practice.

Our lives are limited(Life is as brief as a horse passing through a crack, fleeting like a gap in the light.), while knowledge is endless(Anxious thoughts and restless deliberation ceaselessly chase each other day and night, like an ocean without a shore.). To pursue the endless with the limited is exhausting(To chase infinite delusions with a finite body and mind wears you down and endangers you deeply.). So yet, to persist in this exhausting chase, thinking one is wise, only brings danger until the end(Already weary and lost, still unaware, one clings to the illusion of knowing—setting a course toward final ruin that cannot be saved.). Do good without seeking a reputation for goodness(Doing good without the desire for worldly praise.). Avoid what is wrong without courting punishment(Acting wrongly without daring to cross into what would invite punishment. This is to let go of both good and evil, to wander through life with an open heart, unhooked by worldly matters.). Follow the middle way as your constant guide('Follow' means to yield to; 'middle way' means the natural order; 'constant' means 'the norm.' This is simply to rest the mind peacefully in the natural pattern of Heaven's principle as your constant standard, without chasing after excess or straining to push your way forward.). In this way, you can preserve your body, keep your spirit whole, support your family, and fulfill your allotted years(When you comply with the natural principle, you do not let greed ruin your life—so you can keep the body and spirit whole. You do not disgrace yourself or harm your vital force—so you can care for your loved ones and complete your natural life span. This is the key to nurturing life.).

The awakened transcendent sage forgets self, forgets achievement, and forgets fame. Thus, they rise beyond the worldly. In contrast, the confused fool chasing labels competes for reputation and delights in debate, unable to realize the true master within. This marks the distinction between sage and fool. Therefore, we now show the path to sagehood, making nurturing life's essence the primary focus. Yet the key to nurturing life lies solely in "following the central vein as one's guiding principle." If one accepts one's lot, adapts to the times, and complies with the natural flow of heavenly principle, then when encountering things, one releases attachment, having no intention toward worldly affairs. Thus, self, achievement, and fame—without needing to deliberately forget them—are naturally forgotten. This is the wondrous technique for nurturing life's essence. Hence, the following story of Cook Ding carving an ox illustrates this.

Cook Ding was carving an ox for Lord Wenhui of Liang.

Wherever his hand touched, wherever his shoulder leaned, wherever his foot stepped, wherever his knee pressed—*shh*—the blade slid in with a *whir*. All was in perfect rhythm, like the Mulberry Forest dance, or the harmonious chords of the Classic Scripture.

Lord Wenhui exclaimed, "Ah, wonderful! Has skill reached such heights?"

Cook Ding put down his knife and replied, "What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond mere skill. When I first began carving oxen, I saw nothing but the whole ox. After three years, I no longer saw it as a whole. Now, I meet it with my spirit, not my eyes. My senses stand still, but my spirit moves as it will. I follow the natural grain, slice through the great gaps, guide the blade through the large hollows—following the way things are. I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, let alone a major bone.

"A good cook changes his knife once a year—he cuts. An ordinary cook changes his knife once a month—he hacks. I have used this knife for nineteen years, carving thousands of oxen, and its blade is as sharp as if fresh from the whetstone. The joints have spaces, and the blade has no thickness. Sending what has no thickness into a space, there is plenty of room—the blade moves freely. That is why after nineteen years, the blade is still sharp.

"Still, whenever I come to a tough spot—a tangled knot of sinews—I see the difficulty and brace myself. I slow my gaze, I move more gently. I apply the knife with great care, until—*rip*—it comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling. Then I stand up, knife in hand, look around, satisfied. I wipe the blade clean and put it away."

Lord Wenhui said, "Excellent! From these words, I have learned how to nurture life."

Gongwen Xuan saw the Right Teacher and said with shock, "What kind of person is this? How did he lose his foot? Was it from Heaven or from other people?"

He answered himself, "It was from Heaven, not from other people. Heaven gave birth to this person, making him one-footed. A person's appearance is given to them. That is how we know it is from Heaven, not from other people."

A pheasant in the marsh takes ten steps to find one peck of food, and a hundred steps to find one drink of water. It does not wish to be kept in a cage. Even if its spirit were full and strong in the cage, it would not be good for it.